Many of you are in transition, learning about your natural hair and growing as an individual with it. You are transforming into a new you. Your natural hair is just that - natural. It is who you are. We place so much emphasis on the products that we use when embracing our hair that we may miss the journey in front of us. Recently, I've watched a few You Tube videos, read some articles and of course followed a few natural hair care companies and a complaint that is surfacing is many of the businesses we support and rely on to maintain our hair are taking advantage of our 'need' by raising prices unwarranted. Now, I can understand where some of these companies are coming from which will remain nameless, and I definitely understand where a sista is coming from when she has a choice between groceries or a styling product, which one would you choose?
Taking advantage of our desire for manageable hair boils down to a few aspects:
1. The natural hair movement is a revolution which means demand has increased.
2. Companies are concerned with profit. Some companies change formulations to make the product cheaper to produce and keep the price the same, others keep the formulation the same and raise the price and some companies do both.
I must admit that the prices of some products on the market are ridiculous and if bought are seen as a splurge. Obviously, the natural hair market doesn't have enough hair companies since if they did the competition would bring down the prices of many products we love. I do not need a bottle of $50.00 moisturizer or styling cream, being natural is natural. Why should anyone have to be broke to rock what God gave them? It simply doesn't connect for me. If you do splurge that's fine but thinking that your hair will be 'unmanageable ' without a certain product is not true. My hair is soft and manageable with shea butter and Kiss My Face Big Body Conditioner used as a leave-in. I understand that this combo may not work for you but focusing on simple products like coconut oil, jojoba oil, conditioners you can use for multi-purposes and of course water makes a huge difference, Keep It Simple Sista.
I do own some great products that are definitely a splurge for me but they get pulled out my closet once or twice every month, if that. I focus on my everyday products the rest of the time which are mostly locally accessible and affordable.
Lastly, I would like to say to the women that are struggling with transitioning or with their TWA to hold on and not to revert back to relaxers, their are products out there that are affordable and local if you are on a budget. Try focusing on flea markets, health food stores, your local retail stores like Wal-Mart and your local African beauty store if you have one in your area, they usually carry shea butter and black soap which is usually shipped straight from west Africa. If you buy products from websites try buying a year supply and storing them in the fridge or a cool dry place to maintain the product's freshness.
Below I've attached a few videos of some of my favourite You Tubers discussing this trend, have fun!
2 comments:
great post! I couldn't agree more too, I've tried over the past few months to cut down on product splurging and it's helped more than just my pocket...research on what goes into those 'high cost' products can help you figure out what it is your hair really likes, chances are there's a much less expensive alternative out there. Buying in bulk also saves on shipping costs;-)
Excellent Post! It doesn't cost a thing to maintain your natural hair. Keep this in mind if you can't eat it you should not use it. Even though many of you have gone natural, you still think that you have to have beauty products to maintain your hair. You need to erase that consumer based capitalist indoctrination from your minds. You don't need to further waste any money. If black women finally realized the millions of dollars some of you would have if you’d stop wasting it on your hair, you‘d be surprised. We’re making everyone else wealthy, but US. Make your own and you can save a lot of money to be used on other things. Water is free, use it to soften your hair. Purchase natural oils such as rosemary, peppermint, orange, lemon. You can use any kind of oil to moisturize your hair such as coconut oil, olive oil, safflower oil, castor oil, etc. Remember, keep in mind that you must be able to eat anything that you use. If you want the sweet smell, add pure vanilla oil. Never use petroleum products on your hair, ever. All you need are spray bottles, time and patience to create your own, so stop falling for the marketing ploy that marketers use to get you to buy their products that you don't need. Free yourself for product bondage and start counting those dollars. Make a conscious effort to become totally free of the mind-set that you can not do anything with your hair unless you use mass produced products, make your own!
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